Late Jumper Sinks North Texas

LAFAYETTE, La. - It was a back and forth battle but Mercedes Johnson hit a jumper with .1 seconds on the clock to lift Louisiana-Lafayette to a 71-69 win over North Texas at the Earl K. Long Gym. With the game tied at 69-69, the Ragin Cajuns had the

LAFAYETTE, La. - It was a back and forth battle but Mercedes Johnson hit a jumper with .1 seconds on the clock to lift Louisiana-Lafayette to a 71-69 win over North Texas at the Earl K. Long Gym. With the game tied at 69-69, the Ragin Cajuns had the ball with 4.4 seconds left. D'Mya Clay lobbed a pass into Johnson who hit the 15-foot jumper just before the buzzer for the win.

The Mean Green (5-17, 2-7) raced out a nine-point halftime lead over the Cajuns at 48-39 thanks in part to hot shooting from behind the arc. North Texas had a season-high in points in the first half at 48 as they knocked down seven 3-pointers. Tamara Torru, Laura McCoy, and Desiree Nelson each had two first half 3-pointers.

The second half was a different story as they game turned into a defensive battle. The Ragin Cajuns trimmed the Mean Green led down to four points at 57-53 with 12:36 remaining in the game. North Texas then reeled off four straight points to push the lead back to eight at 61-53.

Louisiana-Lafayette (10-11, 3-5) then made its final push. On the strength of a 12-3 run the Cajuns took a 65-64 lead with under six minutes to play. The lead would change hands twice and then was tied at 67-67 with four minutes left. Kasondra Foreman tied the game once again at 69-69 with a hoop with 3:23 remaining.

Both teams had chances down the stretch but the Cajuns had the ball with 30 seconds remaining. Johnson missed a jumper with 21 seconds left, but the Cajuns grabbed the offensive rebound and then called a timeout with 4.4 seconds left to setup the heroics by Johnson.

Jasmine Godbolt notched her second straight double-double and 15th of her career with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Torru led the Mean Green with 16 points on the night. Johnson finished with 13 points.

North Texas stays on the road as they will face the Denver Pioneers on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.